Johnson-Thompson boosts heptathlon medal hopes

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‘She knows how to deliver’ - Johnson-Thompson in heptathlon high jump

ByHarry PooleBBC Sport journalist

Published19 minutes ago

Great Britain's Katarina Johnson-Thompson boosted her medal chances at the European Athletics Championships with a strong high jump performance in Birmingham.

Two-time world champion Johnson-Thompson has never won a European heptathlon title, taking silver in 2018 behind Belgian great Nafissatou Thiam.

While three-time Olympic champion Thiam is absent, Johnson-Thompson's own injury issues meant her form leading into the championships was unknown.

The 33-year-old had competed just once - in the shot put at an event in Loughborough in May - since winning world bronze in Tokyo last September.

She will begin the second heptathlon session on Friday evening in 10th position, after climbing up the standings with a clearance over 1.83 metres in the high jump.

That performance, bettered only by leading pair Adrianna Sulek-Schubert of Poland and Ireland's Kate O'Connor, followed a time of 14 seconds flat in the 100m hurdles which ranked 15th overall.

British team-mate Jade O'Dowda is close behind, in 12th, after following up a 13.21-second run in the 100m hurdles by clearing 1.71m in the high jump.

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Johnson-Thompson under way in the heptathlon

"It's just not quite there for Kat at the moment," Olympic long jump champion Greg Rutherford said on BBC TV.

"She doesn't really know, I don't think, where she is [fitness-wise]. She's been training of course but until you get into competition and stress the body, you don't know.

"It's a good performance under the little that we know about what shape she is currently in."

Johnson-Thompson achieved the sixth global podium of her career at last year's World Championships - and her third in as many years since recovering from a devastating Achilles rupture.

But she withdrew from the Commonwealth Games last month to focus on being in shape for the Europeans after battling to be fit following an unspecified injury.

The heptathlon continues later with the shot put and 200m events completing the first day of competition, before the long jump, javelin and 800m take place on Saturday.

Johnson-Thompson will seek to limit her losses in the shot put - typically one of her weakest events - as she trails leader Sulek-Schubert by 141 points, and the podium places by 80.